Springer makes history as Astros knock around Royals

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. – As George Springer jogged off the Kauffman Stadium diamond in the seventh inning Monday night, a pair of teammates waited near the third-base line to give him high-fives as the rest of the Astros moved to the top step of the dugout to greet the rookie right fielder.

Springer had just made a spectacular running catch to end the inning, adding a defensive gem to what had already been an amazing day at the dish. Then he strolled to the bat rack, grabbed his maple Chandler, headed to the plate and made the night truly magical with one more powerful swing.

Springer led off the eighth with a towering home run, capping the scoring in a 9-2 victory over the Royals while becoming the first Astros rookie to hit home runs in four consecutive games.

“We all met him at the top step of the dugout, and everybody gave him a high-five and said ‘way to go,’ ” manager Bo Porter said. “That’s a game-changing play. This guy has the ability. Like I’ve explained to him, he’s a three-way player.

“He can impact the game when he’s in the batter’s box. He can impact the game on defense. He can impact the game on the basepath.”

History will show that Scott Feldman was the winner of record as the Astros opened a three-game series with a blowout of the Royals before a crowd of 32,070. Rest assured, however, the night belonged to the rookie from New Britain, Conn.

Springer, who has five home runs in his last four games and eight overall this year, already had been quite remarkable before the eighth inning. He entered his final at-bat as only the third Astro to have four runs scored, two doubles, two RBIs and one walk in a game, joining all-time greats Jeff Bagwell and Cesar Cedeno.

By the time he was done, however, he had accomplished what no other Astro had.

Springer, 24, became the first Astro to score five runs, hit a pair of doubles, walk, homer and drive in three runs in a single game.

“That just means the guys behind me had great nights, too,” Springer said of the runs. “(Dexter) Fowler, (Jason) Castro, they drove me in from second and third. That’s obviously great, productive team at-bats.”

On a night that saw the Astros record a season-high 16 hits, Springer accounted for a quarter of that output while going 4-for-4. His latest showing came as fellow rookie phenom Yordano Ventura (2-5) had one of the worst outings of his young career, giving up seven hits and five runs with three walks and three strikeouts over 22⁄3 innings before leaving with what is being described as lateral elbow discomfort.

“He’s a pretty entertaining guy to watch,” Feldman (3-2) said of Springer. “Even at the beginning of the season when he was struggling, you saw all the talent there.

“I think it’s really a testament to his mental makeup that he went through the struggles and didn’t lose his confidence and kept doing what he knows he can do. Now it’s starting to pay off for him.”

Jose Altuve got the Astros started with a leadoff single in the first. Then Springer and Fowler drew consecutive walks to load the bases. Castro gave the Astros a 1-0 lead with an RBI groundout, and Matt Dominguez made it 2-0 with a sacrifice fly.

Marwin Gonzalez got the Astros going in the second with a two-out double. Altuve followed with a walk, and Springer capitalized with a two-run double. Fowler added an RBI single for a 5-0 lead.

Springer added a leadoff double in the fourth inning. He moved to third on a balk and scored on Castro’s double-play grounder. The Royals countered in the bottom of the fourth when Lorenzo Cain hit a two-out, RBI single to cut the lead to 6-1.

With his home run in the eighth, Springer became the first Astro to score five runs in a game since Cody Ransom on Sept. 20, 2007, at St. Louis.

Also of note: Springer’s eight homers in May give him a share of the club rookie record for a month, set by Glenn Davis.

“He brings it every day is what I love about (Springer),” Porter said. “This guy has fun.”